Day 1 – Uneventful flight to Philadelphia (rocking chairs in the airport if you can believe it) and then on to Florida and milder temperatures. Over to Brazil, a café in a mall for a surprisingly good supper and across to the Bank Atlantic Center for the Bruins/Panthers game which runs to an overtime period and shootout. We have great seats (thanks to the shore captain) just five rows behind the players benches at center ice.
Day 2 – Get caught up on email and then off to board the Emerald Princess which is fairly efficient so we find ourselves in our stateroom and meet Saul our Mexican cabin steward who spoils us. A quick planning meeting with the Australian (very young) Asst. Cruise Director who is pleased to find out I’m low maintenance. A great meal of prime rib with flourless chocolate cake for dessert in the DaVinci dining room and life is good.
 |
| Princess Cays |
Day 3 – Princess Cays so we book a snorkel excursion with Capt. Jimmy out to the reef and the visibility and numbers of new fish do not disappoint. The water temperature is coolish and explains why some of the passengers are wearing wet suits. The shore captain is already discussing procuring ‘tommy johns’ as the short sleeved, legged suits are known. Rita the assistant gets us each a 'sea biscut' which are sand dollaresque like creatures. We check out the beach, delicious BBQ, stalls and catch a tender back to the ship. Another great supper and we collapse.
Day 4 – Up early for the 9 am Blog 101 presentation which is eagerly received by a small audience without technical or presentation issues so a good feeling. The remainder of the sea day to enjoy so tie in the sun on the deck, tea at 4 pm (for me). We get gussied up for formal night and a stop at Vines, the wine bar for tapas (me) and sushi (he) before supper at the Crown Grille. The steak house is amazing, the service fantastic and we are waddling by the time we leave. We take in the late show of Motor City Musical and the singers and dancers are good.
Day 5 – Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. Driving on the left side of the road, right sided steering and wild senior female drivers) we share a van with a young couple crewing on an expensive yacht who get dropped at Kmart and we head over to Coki Beach. Great visibility, schools of fish (many new to us) and a beautiful beach. Then we wander over to Coral Gardens to visit the underwater aquarium, stingray, mangrove, turtle and shark displays. There is even a sea lion show and wonderful reef exhibits. A great way to spend the afternoon before we check out the duty free, buy a book from a retired mariner and head back on board. Vines to enjoy some rose, and a wonderful dinner in the Michelangelo dining room with great staff.
 |
| Champagne Reef |
Day 6 – Roseau, Dominica. A full day spent with Benjamin our cab driver who takes us snorkeling on Champagne Reef where it feels as if you’re swimming in a glass of sprite and there are large schools of many different kinds of fish. Off to Trafalgar Falls where Naithan our intrepid guide takes us on a hike up through the hot and cold springs. We shop the craft stalls, check out the fruit/vegetable market and decide that this island is a place we’d like to spend more time. The drink of the day is a 24K margarita and life is good.
Day 7 – St. Geroges, Grenada where we’ve visited before, it’s showering and we only have a partial day so we opt for a cab and head over to Morne Rouge beach. We attempt snorkeling but the shore captain only sees one fish so we summon our cabbie back early and head to the waterfalls. Here we see some jumping displays, buy some spices and have some photo ops. We check out the International Café for treats (highly recommended) and veg for the afternoon. A wonderful Italian meal with other Canadian guests.
Day 8 – Kralendyk, Bonaire – arrive at noontime and it’s a breezy day with showers. We catch a ride over to Klein Bonaire with Capt. Mike (after he gets the speedboat started) and enjoy a different area of the reef than we saw last time. The visibility isn’t great with the roughness but we still see lots of large and different fishes. We grab a cab and head out for the southern part of the island, visiting slave huts and the solar salt flats with Cargill Salt Co, then Lac Bay to see the windsurfers before heading back through a tropical downpour to the ship. We make a quick decision to see if we can get reservations at Sabattinis and are graciously invited in to enjoy a sumptuous five course Italian meal. Very elegant and highly recommended.
Day 9 – Oranjestad, Aruba - we check out the wi-fi outside of Dunkin Donuts and get caught up on the news then head back to plan adventures. It’s apparently not easy to visit the southern end of the island as cabs are $45 per hour per person so we opt instead to catch the bus to the beach to snorkel. A British couple from the P&O ship Azura is docked next to us and we spend a great afternoon snorkeling in the rain and seeing large schools of fish with decent visibility. We catch the bus back, grab some drinks and nachos, say goodbye to our new friends and even get a chance to shop the craft stalls as we make our sailaway deadline.
Day 10 – another 9 a.m. presentation this one The Art of Blogging and it’s a bit better attended with more interaction. Sun deck and e-books for the afternoon. Final formal night and lots of great conversation at a wonderful supper.
Day 11 – a final presentataion on Creative Writing and this one is held in the conference room as the theatre is being readied for the culinary show. A small but loyal group and the topic goes very well. Watch the movie Bridesmaids in the afternoon – hilarious, my daughter was right – and give Saul his birthday gift of an Aruba t-shirt. Final supper and then the crew show where our wine steward Dragan is an amazing drummer it turns out as we watch is drum solo.
Day 12 – disembarkation and over to the Premiere Hotel which is a small family owned facility that lived up to its 950 positive Trip Advisor reviews. We make our way to the grocery store as we have an efficiency room – large, looking over the beach – to stock up. Lounge chairs by the pool after the walk.
Day 13 – start the day with a stroll to Starbucks and then check out the beach for a while. An early supper at Greek Islands Taverna – it did not disappoint from last year – where we share some portions and YES the lamb chops ARE that good, Greek salad, calamari, pita and dips with a bottle of Greek wine and even baklava for dessert. Ahh, crash early that night.
 |
| Le Tub for supper |
Day 14 – over to Port Everglades to retrieve the snorkel gear bag which didn’t get picked up when we disembarked and that was quite the adventure. Lots of security issues, entry through the crew check in etc. but we escaped and made it back to the hotel to plan our excursion. Take the water taxi down to Hollywood – think beach blanket movies – which is a 60s time warp complete with boardwalk, kitschy stores and lots of eateries. We opt for supper at Le Tub which apparently Oprah says has the best burgers in the world – excellent and huge portions – with great margaritas and then we catch the boat back. It’s late and chilly by the time we are deposited back near the hotel at 8 p.m. but what a great time.
Day 15 – a final morning in Ft. Lauderdale to do some swimsuit shopping at the stores, have some dermabrasion at the beach – it’s really windy and the surf is up before heading out to pack. A very intense security clearance which includes a full body scan, shoes off and barked directions and uneventful (which is good) flights to Philadelphia with a slight delay and then back to the land of snow. A wintery drive home arriving by 3 a.m. to be greeted by the fur children and collapse into bed.
What a great time was had by all, now to adjust to cooler climes.
